Various food and beverage systems are known in the art for blending a concentrate of relatively high viscosity with a diluent having a relatively low viscosity. Typical post mix food and beverage dispensers are designed to separately store and to automatically combine at the time of dispensing a concentrate and a diluent such as water at a predetermined ratio in order to consistently produce a food or beverage which is acceptable for consumption.
Commercially known available post mix juice and fruit drink dispensers require a connection to an external diluent source or waterline. Two beverage systems which are presently marketed are illustrative of the beverage dispensing art. The Jet Spray Company of Norwood, Massachusetts and Alco Dispensing Systems of Carol Stream, Illinois distribute post mix beverage dispensers which deliver juice concentrate from a storage vessel to a dispensing spout along with water from a waterline connection outside the dispenser. The waterline connection needed to feed these dispensers emanates from the main waterline of a premise. The waterline connected to such typically commercially available post mix dispensers necessitates a particular sized tubing generally 1/4" to 3/8" ID. In addition to the size of the waterline connection, a minimum water pressure is also required which is usually of the order of 25 lbs./psi.
The need for a waterline connection requires a food service operator to have immediate space available for placement of the dispenser. The available space must be substantially adjacent the main waterline of the operator's premise so that a secondary waterline tapped off the main waterline can be joined to the post mix dispenser. Once the dispenser is connected to the premise water supply, it must remain connected at all times in order to be utilized to dispense drinks. The dispenser is further dependent on the proper operability and quality of the premise water supply. If a problem arises and the premise water supply is turned off or fluctuates in pressure, the post mix dispenser will not deliver a reconstituted beverage of uniform consistency available for consumption. Likewise, the taste of the blended product may vary due to the purity of the water supplied. Since currently available post mix juice and fruit drink dispensers require an external waterline connection, can be restrictedly used only in areas of the premise where a waterline connection can be made, and are dependent on the operability and quality of the premise water supply, little convenience and versatility is offered to the operator. Accordingly, it is desirable to produce a beverage dispensing system independent of any external source of diluent, such as water, which is more convenient for operator use. In this regard, it would be advantageous if a dispenser could be designed to include a completely self-contained, replenishable and quality-controlled diluent source which would create a portability of the dispenser unknown in the prior art.
It is further desirable that a beverage dispensing system yield a reconstituted beverage of uniform consistency. Such objective can be attained by better control of the forces used to deliver the concentrate and diluent. In the case of the diluent, as discussed previously, a dispenser having a waterline connection is dependent on the waterline pressure provided directly to the dispenser or in conjunction with an auxiliary water pump. In the case of the concentrate, liquids of varying viscosity must be properly pumped and replaced in an easily serviceable manner. One example of a concentrate pump which meets this general criteria is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,750,908, issued Aug. 7, 1973 to Bauerlein, et al. In this arrangement, a peristaltic type pump consisting of a rotatable shaft and a helical flange serves to provide pumping action of a concentrate and also allow for installation and removal of the concentrate from the dispenser. A further showing of a peristaltic pump used to transfer concentrate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,296, issued Nov. 6, 1979 to Marshall. Besides the fact that both of these pumps operate in dispensers requiring a waterline connection, further improvement in the design efficiency and operability of concentrate pumps need to be considered. More importantly, the pumping capability for both the concentrate and diluent must be upgraded and combined to produce a blended beverage product of uniform consistency.